Almost to the breaking point

Every time I feel that way, I buy a lottery ticket. It gives me a couple days to walk around planning my glorious escape from working ever again, and I've usually cooled down by the time the drawing ruins my fantasy.

 

Everytime we have a thread like this, I realize how much I like my job and appreciate my boss.

 

agreed with spirited...

I hit this point last spring when I realized replacing my final full-time writer with a part-timer was going to mean either I go crazy or we make some changes in coverage. I came up with a game plan, presented it and it was welcomed with enthusiasm from above. Made a few similar suggestions a couple weeks ago, as we head into the prep season and got the same enthusiastic reception. My place gets it...cutting staff doesn't mean working for free, it means changing how you do things to make it work for all sides.

Sadly many shops don't carry that mindset.

One bit of advice, go in with some ideas, present a clear game plan for moving forward, and be flexible. Rushing into the office with a chip on your shoulder isn't going to accomplish anything except putting everyone in a sour mood.

 

I just had one of those moments. Sat at the dining room table with my head on the placemat and my arms spread out on either side. Desperately wanted to say I was done.

But the first response is right: now is not the time. Not unless you're really going to be happier in something else you've already got lined up.

Plus, think of all the people in the world who have jobs that really suck. Coal miners, for example.

 

One other idea, and I'm completely serious: If your company has an employee assistance program, look into it. Get a physical exam and tell the doctor you are worried about the toll stress is taking on you. If there are warning signs, you might be able to get a referral to a mental health professional who can help you sort through any issues. If it's severe, you might even get a physician's directive to stay away from work temporarily, and I guarantee the bosses would see how much work really you do -- and how unreasonable the expectations are -- by your absence.

A job isn't supposed to kill you. If it is, then something needs to be fixed. Start by controlling whatever you can control and, for most of us, that means our personal well-being. Good luck.

 

You can find an unethical doctor who will falsify a mental breakdown diagnosis, but he helps if you wet yourself in the middle of the newsroom. That is six figures guaranteed. Plus you don't have to cover any shitty high school football games.
I want a finder's fee. Man's gotta eat, right?

 

It's always good to be looking for jobs. If you are as hard of a worker as you say you are, you can get a job elsewhere. Maybe it won't be as fun as sports writing, but it will likely pay more.

 

You can probably say that about any newspaper.

 

My former employer forced me to see a counselor (on my own dime) as a condition of employment. The job did almost kill me and I snapped. So glad I am not an SE any more.

 

They're repairing the roof on the printing plant part of our newspaper. I'm not sure that it really needed it. I think that the powers that be hired the crew so that we would look down out of our tower window and think, "My job might suck a bit, but at least I'm not a roofer working with hot tar in August."

 

I would suggest a well thought out e-mail with a detailed explanation of just how much you're doing, sent to your boss and whoever needs to know. I had a situation a month or so ago where I literally could not do anymore work in one shift and we were barely making it on time while a few others, who I'm in charge of on the desk, were doing very little. They couldn't add a person on that day but they switched around the duties to make things work better. Sometimes, you just have to send up a flare. If you're not the kind to cry wolf, they may try to fix things.

 

A long time ago (almost 15 years) I was the sports editor - I'll just say it - at The Daily Ardmoreite. Two man staff. Two stringers. Six days a week only because we didn't publish Saturday, (PM paper, but for Sunday, making Sunday the only day off), but there was just no way not to do it in less than 60 hours a week. I know it was 80 sometimes. We covered three counties I think, and we covered them HARD. Perhaps we covered four counties. One day, I worked 21 hours. I can't explain it, but the culture was what it was. THIS STUFF had to be in the paper. THIS STUFF … HAD TO BE STAFFED. What I didn't realize at the time was that all that stuff just wasn't true. I have no idea what the culture is where you work, but I would just say this. Be as efficient as you can possibly be. There are many tricks. Use them all. But after you've employed them all, do not work for free. Don't ask your boss what he or she doesn't want covered, first ask them how much overtime is too much overtime. Then ask them what they don't want covered. All of us tend to live in this world where WE HAVE TO BE THERE. When the truth is, we don't.